Emotional Trauma Symptoms Not everyone responds to trauma in exactly the same way, but here are some common signs: Cognitive Changes: Intrusive thoughts, nightmares, and flashbacks of the event, confusion, difficulty with memory and concentration, and mood swings.
Going through very stressful, frightening or distressing events is sometimes called trauma. When we talk about emotional or psychological trauma, we might mean: situations or events we find traumatic. how we're affected by our experiences.
If you can recall times when you've overreacted, and perhaps have even been surprised at your own reactions, this may be a sign of trauma. It's not uncommon for people suffering from emotional trauma to have feelings of shame and self-blame.
A traumatic event is time-based, while PTSD is a longer-term condition where one continues to have flashbacks and re-experiencing the traumatic event. In addition, to meet criteria for PTSD there must be a high level of ongoing distress and life impairment.
Psychological trauma is a response to an event that a person finds highly stressful. Examples include being in a war zone, a natural disaster, or an accident. Trauma can cause a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms. Not everyone who experiences a stressful event will develop trauma.
1) Being verbally or emotionally abused
Perhaps one of the most common forms of trauma is emotional abuse. This can be a common form of trauma because emotional abuse can take many different forms. Sometimes it's easy for emotional abuse to be hidden or unrecognized.
Physical Symptoms
We sometimes assume that trauma can only affect us mentally, but there are many ways the effects can physically manifest themselves: Constant tiredness even after you have had a rest. Headaches and general pain in your body. Difficulty falling asleep.
Someone with PTSD may struggle to follow instructions because they're preoccupied with intrusive memories, but their behaviour looks like the distractibility of ADHD. Hypervigilance practised by someone with PTSD may look like inattention, typically associated with ADHD.
Women with PTSD may be more likely than men with PTSD to: Be easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions or feel numb. Avoid things that remind them of the trauma.
If you're asking why do I feel like my trauma isn't valid, you might be spending too much time comparing your trauma to other's. Some people can handle a single event better than a long-term situation.
People who go through a traumatic experience go through a lot of mental and physical stress that can make it hard for them to recover without professional help. Drama on the other hand consists of our personal reaction to things and the way that we interpret events that aren't objectively painful.
Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won't go away.
Signs of Trauma. “Trauma is different for everyone,” Choi says. But two of the more common reactions, she says, are feeling very strong emotions or feeling little. “You might have overwhelming negative emotions or not be able to stop crying.
When Symptoms Occur Without a History of Trauma. It is important to understand that trauma can be inherited independently of difficult family circumstances. A child can develop anxiety, depression, or other stress-related issues such as PTSD as a result of an inherited vulnerability rather than direct trauma.
Simply put, when a person experiences something traumatic, adrenalin and other neurochemicals rush to the brain and print a picture there. The traumatic memory loops in the emotional side of the brain, disconnecting from the part of the brain that conducts reasoning and cognitive processing.
There are also many kids who experience repeated traumatic events in their home or community who develop these symptoms, even though they don't meet all the criteria for PTSD. This is sometimes called “complex trauma,” and these kids, too, can be misdiagnosed with ADHD.
An ADHD diagnosis increases the risk of trauma exposure for several key reasons. Children with ADHD alone are at a heightened risk for factors that are strongly linked to trauma, including: Interpersonal and self-regulatory problems. Substance abuse.
Smiling is a way to “protect” therapists.
By downplaying their pain they are attempting to minimize the upset they believe they are causing. Laughing while recounting something painful says, “I'm OK, you don't have to take care of me. ' Instead, clients are actually attempting to take care of their therapists.
Trauma happens to everyone.
It can be physical, mental, or emotional. Many do not realize they have had a traumatic experience because most believe “a trauma” is only something dramatic or changes their world entirely.
PTSD assessment may begin using a self-screen. However, a more in-depth assessment is required to diagnose PTSD. That assessment will involve an interview with a provider and may also include self-report questionnaires that you complete.
Attachment and relationships
Another warning flag of childhood trauma that carries over into adulthood are problems forming attachments and relationships. For example, if your childhood trauma was caused by a loved one or caregiver, you may learn to mistrust adults.